The Book of Cheese Part 23

_Desirable_

Clean Pleasant Aroma Nutty Flavor

_Undesirable_

+Due to Farm Conditions+

Weedy Feedy Cowy Old Milk Bitter

+Due to Factory Conditions+

Too much acid Too little acid

+Due to either Farm or Factory Conditions+

Yeasty Fruity Fishy Rancid Sour Bitter Sweet Tainted

BODY AND TEXTURE

_Desirable_

Smooth Waxy Silky Close

_Undesirable_

Pasty Corky Acidy Greasy Loose Sweet Curdy Ga.s.sy Watery Mealy Lumpy Yeasty Too dry

COLOR

_Desirable_

Uniform

_Undesirable_

Streaked White specks Seamy Mottled Wavy Rust spots Acid cut Too high Too light

FINISH

_Desirable_

Clean surfaces Neat bandage Attractive

_Undesirable_

Wrinkled bandage Unclean surfaces Cracked rinds Undesirable size Greasy No end caps Uneven edges

+264. Causes of variations in score.+--It is very seldom, if ever, that a cheese is given a perfect score, for it usually has one or more defects which may be hardly noticeable or very p.r.o.nounced. The seriousness of the defect is determined by the individual tastes of the judges and the market requirements. It is customary for the judge to pick out several samples and score them in order to fix the standard and if there are several judges this serves to unify their standard.

Ordinarily judges will vary because of their individual tastes, unless they begin with a uniform standard.

Certain markets require cheese with given qualities which on other markets would be considered defects. For example, the Boston market requires a very soft, pasty cheese which other markets would consider undesirable.

The cheese is constantly undergoing changes due to the ripening agents so that it may not always be scored the same. For example, a cheese may have little or no flavor and after several weeks a very considerable flavor may have developed. This is probably due to the action of the ripening agents, and therefore the second time it would be scored differently.

+265. The score-card.+--When judging several samples of cheese, the type of score-card on the opposite page is used for each one.

This gives the date of judging and the sample number, the judge's name and reasons for cutting the score and recommendations to avoid these troubles.

CHAPTER XV

_THE SWISS AND ITALIAN GROUPS_

Certain varieties of hard cheese of foreign origin are now made to some extent in this country. If not manufactured in sufficient quant.i.ties to supply the demand, the remainder is imported. These hard cheeses are now considered.

SWISS CHEESE

Swiss cheese, variously known as Gruyere, Emmenthal, Schweitzer and Swiss, had its origin in the Alpine cantons of Switzerland. From this region its manufacture has been carried by Swiss dairy-men and emigrant farmers into widely separate lands. The Swiss colonies settled in the United States in the Mohawk Valley and in Cattaraugus County, New York; in Wayne, Stark, Summit, Columbiana and Tuscarawas counties of Ohio, and in Green and Dodge counties in Wisconsin. Of all these, the Wisconsin colonies have become the most extensive. Similar colonies have developed the making of this type of cheese in Sweden and Finland.

+266. The Swiss factory.+--Swiss cheese cannot be made in a vat like other types for reasons that will be explained later. In place of the vat is used a kettle, generally of copper, and it may or may not be jacketed for steam or for hot water (Fig. 56). These kettles vary in capacity from 600 to 3000 pounds of milk. The cheese-maker takes the best care possible of his kettle, for an unclean utensil is one of the easiest sources of contamination of the milk. When the kettle is not jacketed, and it is only in recent years that this has been done, it is suspended in a fireplace by means of a crane arrangement.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 56.--Swiss-cheese kettle.]

This fireplace uses wood, and is built of brick or stone, so that the kettle rests on the edge and is provided with a door which swings upon another crane, and can be closed while the fire is going. When the kettle is swung on a crane, it is possible to swing it under the weigh-stand for filling. This requires a lid to swing down over the fire, and keep the room free from smoke. The chimney generally has a rather high stack to secure a good draft. This kettle is fastened to the crane by a large iron band pa.s.sing around the neck, to which a bail or handle is attached. The kettle may be raised or lowered by means of a simple screw on this beam. The crane consists of a heavy beam working in sockets in the floor and a beam or cross brace, which has another and shorter beam braced to it, to take the weight of the kettle.

The weigh-stand, and its efficient location, is a matter of extreme importance. It is elevated a little above the remainder of the floor to allow gravity to do the work. The next most important equipment is the press and draining table. The table is made of wood or stone, and has a slight slope to allow the whey to drain off. The press is generally a jack screw which, braced against a beam, will exert an enormous pressure on the table below.

Swiss cheeses are made in two styles, the "round" or drum and the "block" or rectangular forms, each of which has its advantages. For the round style, which is most commonly made, the forms for hooping are of metal or of elm wood, and consist of strips of a given width, generally six inches, but of an undetermined length. These strips are then made into a circle and held by a cord, which is easily lengthened or shortened, thus varying the diameter of the hoop.

Besides these hoops, cheese boards or followers are needed. These are heavy circular boards, of a size to fit that of the cheese generally made, and are banded with iron around the edge and cross-braced on the bottom for rigidity. The small tools of the factory consist of knives to cut the curd, and of a "Swiss harp" or other similar tool to stir the curd. Many clean bandages are also needed, and a kettle brake.

+267. The milk.+--Swiss cheese requires clean sweet milk. Dirt, high acid and infections with undesirable bacteria involve difficulties of manufacture and frequent losses of cheese. One common practice rejects milk if it shows acidity above 0.15 per cent. To secure milk in this condition, factories are small and located so close to the producing farms as to secure 1000 to 3000 pounds of milk delivered warm from the cow twice a day. The cheese is made twice daily from this fresh milk.

If, however, milk is properly cared for, it is possible to mix night's and morning's milk without bad results. In fact, in working experimentally with high grade milk and taking precautions against loss of fat, it has been necessary to skim (separate) part of the milk, thus reducing the ratio of fat to casein. a.n.a.lysis of good Swiss cheeses shows that the desired texture is more uniformly obtained with milk in which the fat is less than the normal ratio. This a.s.sumes that the manufacturing loss is kept down so that the fat removed offsets the extra loss from curd-breaking.

+268. Rennet extract.+--Most Swiss cheese-makers prefer to make their own rennet extract from the stomach. This results in a product which is not uniform in strength and so requires good judgment to secure the desired coagulation in the allotted time. Some cheese-makers roll fifteen to twenty well salted calves' stomachs together and dry them.

From this they cut off a definite amount each day to be soaked for twenty-four hours in two to five quarts of whey at 86 F. Four quarts of this solution added to 2000 pounds of milk at 90 F. should produce a curd ready for cutting in twenty to thirty minutes.

+269. Starter.+--Makers do not agree as to the use of "starters" for Swiss cheese. Those opposed to such use say that a starter will give the cheese a decided Cheddar flavor, while those in favor of it state that it will control undesirable fermentations, and that, with the use of a starter, it is possible to make Swiss cheese throughout the year, and have uniform success.

Doane,[122] working with _Bacillus Bulgaricus_ as a starter, found that these starters did not always overcome the undesirable fermentations. If a cheese-maker is having difficulty to develop the holes or "eyes," this may be overcome by making a starter[123] as follows from good cheese and whey or milk: Select a cheese which has the desirable "eyes" or holes and a good flavor. Grind up some of this and add about of a pound to one gallon of milk or whey. Hold this for twenty-four hours at a warm temperature (85 to 90 F.). Strain it into the vat of milk just before the rennet is added.

+270. The making process.+--The milk is delivered twice a day without cooling. It usually reaches the factory at a temperature of 92 to 96 F. It is strained into the kettle, and starter and rennet added at the same temperature as received. (For method of adding rennet, see Chapter V.) Enough rennet should be used to give a coagulation ready for cutting in twenty to thirty minutes. The firmness of the curd is tested by inserting the index finger in an oblique position, then raising it slightly and with the thumb of the same hand starting the curd to break or crack. When the curd is coagulated ready for cutting, it will give a clear break over the finger.

It is important to keep the temperature uniform while coagulation is in process, and this is best accomplished by the use of a little pan arrangement which fits into the top of the kettle. When this is full of water at 100 F., the temperature of the air above the milk will be about 90 F. When the curd is ready for cutting, a scoop may be used and the top layer carefully turned under to equalize the temperature more closely.